Byron Shire mourns loss of iconic author Richard Neville

TUESDAY 6.20am: MAYOR of Byron Shire (where Richard Neville resided for the last years of his life) Simon Richardson, has shared some kind words about the late iconic author.

"It was with deep sadness that I learnt of the passing of Richard Neville," Cr Richardson said.

"Though I was not close to Richard personally, his legacy did touch me personally.

"As someone who published an alternative magazine in the 1990s - Tribe Magazine - I was greatly inspired by the OZ crew and their audacious willingness to push the envelope and highlight the emperors' nakedness.

"As the media slowly became ever more homogenised and corporatised, the value of the insights and commentary he shared became ever more vital for society's democratic health.

"Today, the need for the next generation of insightful, inspiring and intelligent social commentators like Richard Neville are needed like never before.

"His passing is an incredible loss and the Byron community shares its condolences with Richard's friends and family."

MONDAY 10am: ICONIC Australian writer, author and social commentator Richard Neville has died at the age of 74.

Mr Neville died on Sunday, with his wife Julie Clarke Neville and daughters Lucy and Angelica by his side, at his home on the Northern Rivers.

"Our wonderful Richard has gone on to his next adventure," Ms Clarke Neville posted on Facebook, the Australian reported.

The front cover of Oz Sydney's first publication in April 1963 (AAP Image/University of Wollongong) SUPPLIED

Mr Neville first made a splash in Australia and the United Kingdom in the 1960s when he co-founded the counterculture magazine Oz, which was known for featuring satire alongside serious news journalism.

The magazine was created by Mr Neville, along with artist Martin Sharp and editor Richard Walsh, and challenged Australia's censorship laws.

The three founders of the controversial magazine were charged twice in Australia with producing an "indecent and obscene publication".

Despite this, Mr Neville went on to create a new version of Oz in London, which lead to the notorious "Oz obscenity trial" in the United Kingdom.

The trial saw him given a prison sentence, which was eventually overturned on appeal.

The front cover of Oz Sydney's sixth edition from February 1964 (AAP Image/University of Wollongong)SUPPLIED

Mr Neville was born in Sydney in 1941, the youngest of three children and attended the University of NSW.

He later wrote a 1979 biography on Charles Sobhraj, the infamous serial killer of Western backpackers in Asia in the 1970s.

He also spent three years writing Hippy Hippy Shake, his book on the 1970s hippy scene.